Republican Douchebag of the Week....Hillbillies Gone Wild!

Today marked the day that Scott Brown of Massachussetts was inaugurated the 45th president of the United States....

No, really...

Actually, as Brown became the junior senator of Mass, the senior senator of ass, Richard Shelby (R-Dickweed) proceeded to become the congressional version of a fifth-grader by putting a blanket hold on Obama's nominations for positions that were sent to the Senate. One? No. Three? Try more than 70.

In response to a question from the Press-Register, Reid spokeswoman Regan Lachapelle confirmed that Shelby has placed a "blanket hold" on most pending nominations.

By placing a hold, a single senator can stop the Senate from voting on a particular nomination, often as a way of gaining leverage on an unrelated issue. It is not clear when Shelby placed the hold or how many nominees are affected. While individual holds are not unusual, Gary Jacobson, a congressional expert at the University of California at San Diego, said he knew of no previous use of a blanket hold.

This is fucking insane. This is not government procedure, or checks and balances. This is a crazy lunatic, probably egged on by the dysfunctional cabal the GOP has become, preventing even debate let alone a vote on appointed officials across a whole spectrum. And supposedly with the Senate's "Good Ol' Boy" rules, only the "supermajority" vote of 60 (which coincidentally was just lost today) can override it.

Even better, the pussy nor his spokestool refuse to even give a public reason for any of the holds. None. Process that in your mind. Imagine this happening under Prez Alfred B Neuman.

According to the report, Shelby is holding Obama's nominees hostage until a pair of lucrative programs that would send billions in taxpayer dollars to his home state get back on track...

As per CongressDaily, these programs include...

- A $40 billion contract to build air-to-air refueling tankers. From the report: "Northrop/EADS team would build the planes in Mobile, Ala., but has threatened to pull out of the competition unless the Air Force makes changes to a draft request for proposals."

- An improvised explosive device testing lab for the FBI. From CongressDaily: "[Shelby] is frustrated that the Obama administration won't build" the center, which Shelby earmarked $45 million for in 2008. The center is due to be based "at the Army's Redstone Arsenal."

So, to all you "teabagger" assholes that proclaim how the Republican party and that phony shit you call "conservatism" is about keeping spending in check...how's the spotlight, you hypocrite douchnozzles? It all comes down to every right-wing or faux "Independent" charlatan and the biggest fake of all - every spending is bad unless it affects them. All goverment help is bad unless some friend or relative of theirs uses it. This backwoods fuckweasel is holding our government process hostage not for any moral or even political imperative, but to suck some money into his state. If his state's citizens would support his continuance of this, they are just as complicit.

So for using the checks and balances of the legislative branch as a personal bedpan, you, Richard Shelby, win this week's Republican Douchebag of the Week.